Instructions

ZOOM IN by clicking on the page. A slider will appear, allowing you to adjust your zoom level. Return to the original size by clicking on the page again.

MOVE the page around when zoomed in by dragging it.

ADJUST the zoom using the slider on the top right.

ZOOM OUT by clicking on the zoomed-in page.

SEARCH by entering text in the search field and click on "In This Issue" or "All Issues" to search the current issue or the archive of back issues
respectively.
.

PRINT by clicking on thumbnails to select pages, and then press the
print button.

SHARE this publication and page.

ROTATE PAGE allows you to turn pages 90 degrees clockwise or counterclockwise.Click on the page to return to the original orientation. To zoom in on a rotated page, return the page to its original orientation, zoom in, and
then rotate it again.

CONTENTS displays a table of sections with thumbnails and descriptions.

ALL PAGES displays thumbnails of every page in the issue. Click on
a page to jump.

A78
sports
Guardian www.guardian.co.tt Monday, September 29, 2014
BRIDGETOWN---The Caricom
leader who perhaps pays the most
attention among the heads of gov-
ernment to the fortunes of West
Indies cricket likes the steps now
being taken by the game s admin-
istrators to clean up the region s
act on and off the field.
And high on Dr Keith Mitchell s
list "of steps in the right direction"
are the West Indies Cricket Board s
efforts to make the game more excit-
ing for fans, the presence of leg-
endary former West Indies captain
Clive Lloyd as the new chairman of
selectors, and the changes being
made to the schedule of venues
where Tests and limited-overs games
are to be played.
He also likes the role selector
Courtney Walsh, a former West
Indies captain from Jamaica, and
Curtly Ambrose, a retired fast bowler
from Antigua and now coach, are
playing.
Just as important are the moves
to boost the WICB s finances, he
said.
"Cricket is crucial to the West
Indies and I talk about the game
because there is a high correlation
between the performance of the
West Indies on the field and the
finances of the West Indies Cricket
Board," said the Grenada prime min-
ister.
"People are not going to get seri-
ous and invest in your team and in
your sport if it is not playing at the
level that would make it attractive
to crowds and people in general.
"They are tied together and the
decisions that are being made are
certainly moving in the right direc-
tion."
Mitchell told the Sunday Sun in
New York that the side s "poor per-
formance over the years" had led to
sparse crowds at Tests and limited-
overs games.
"People have simply not been
attending the matches," he said.
"That s a far cry from the days when
the West Indies dominated inter-
national cricket and were world
champions and you couldn t get a
seat in a stadium.
"If people are not attending the
matches, the business community
isn t going to provide the level of
support that s needed. It s that sim-
ple.
"They are tied and I am hopeful
that we would see some serious
changes in the level of financial
activity within the board."
Mitchell, who often reports to
Caricom prime ministers and pres-
idents on cricketing issues when
they meet at summits, praised the
board s new leadership saying it had
moved aggressively in recent times
to try to reverse the declining for-
tunes of West Indies cricket.
"The advent of someone like Clive
Lloyd as chairman of selectors,
knowing his passion for West Indies
cricket and the redevelopment of
our sport is a good sign," he said.
"The involvement of people like
Curtly Ambrose and Courtney
Walsh at the coaching level and at
the selection level is another positive
sign.
"What we are hoping will happen
is that we will be able to put the
best team forward for all versions
of the game"
Mitchell hopes players selected
would get the message that the
board "is quite serious about doing
the things that it ought to have been
doing for a while."
"I hope the team would now give
of their best to be playing for the
West Indies instead of attempting
to be involved in every single T20
competition around the world," he
said.
"I know many of them are con-
centrating on their financial status
but there needs to be some sort of
commitment to West Indies cricket.
The pride and joy of representing
the West Indies must return."
First Published In The Barbados
Nation.
Dr Mitchell praises new WICB leadership Tridents beaten
but not disgraced,
says Haynes
MOHALI---Head coach
Desmond Haynes believes Bar-
bados Tridents have done them-
selves and the entire Caribbean
proud despite their elimination
from the ongoing Champions
League Twenty20 tournament
here.
The Barbados-based outfit --
who represented the region after
winning the Caribbean Premier
League -- suffered their third
straight defeat against Hobart
Hurricanes yesterday at the PCA
Stadium, but Haynes said they
were not outplayed nor disgraced.
"One thing we demonstrated
here in this tournament was to
show the world that we are good
enough and West Indies cricket
is on the up," Haynes told
reporters after the game.
"We showed the people around
the world, especially here in India,
that we can play and we can play
well. Very few people expected
us to be as competitive as we have
been. I will repeat, that I believe
West Indies cricket, especially in
this format is pretty strong."
Barbados suffered close defeats
to King s XI Punjab and South
Africa s Cape Cobras in their first
two matches. On Sunday they
went under by six wickets to
Hobart Hurricanes. They will play
their final match against Northern
Knights of New Zealand on Tues-
day in Bangalore.
"In the first two games we
came up short by about 10 to 20
runs ... the wickets for those
games the wicket was much bet-
ter than tonight ... I found the
ball was holding up a bit in this
match, but we didn t bat well
today and that basically cost us
the match."
Haynes said he was extremely
impressed by the batting of left-
hander Jonathan Carter, the left-
hander who made a brilliant 111
not out against the Cape Cobras
and followed up with a stroke-
filled 42 off 34 balls against the
Australians.
He has played for the West
Indies A team and has been on
the verge of selection to the senior
West Indies side for some time.
"When we selected Jonathan
for the Barbados Tridents last year
we identified him as someone
who could keep wicket, bowl a
bit of medium-pace and is a very
good player of spin," the legendary
former West Indies opener said.
"Back in Barbados he is con-
sidered one of the most talented
cricketers that we have at home
so I was very impressed by the
way he handled himself on the
big stage. We always wanted him
to believe in himself.
"[From] the first game he was
ready to get going and this is a
very big stage here. He really
wanted to do well here...this can
be a life-changer." (See match
report on Page 59) (CMC)
KINGSTON---Newly elected second
vice-president of the Jamaica
Cricket Association (JCA), Osmond
Dann, says he hopes to bring his
approximately 12 years experience,
as president of St Catherine CC, to
the position.
The accountant and businessman,
who narrowly defeated former West
Indies batsman, and president of the
West Indies Players Association,
Wavell Hinds, 8-7, during a vote at
a JCA monthly board meeting on
Tuesday, will replace Courtney
Walsh.
Having occupied the post for close
to one year, Walsh recently resigned
to serve as a member of the new
Clive Lloyd-chaired West Indies
selection panel.
"I am honoured to have gained
the confidence of my fellow directors,
who saw it fit to elevate me to the
vice-presidency," said Dann.
"I have no doubt that I will be
able to deal with it, as I have been
president of St Catherine for close
to 12 years, and am very familiar
with cricket administration at the
national and regional level."
The meeting was attended by 15
of 19 voting board members, with
outgoing second vice-president,
Courtney Walsh, Melbourne pres-
ident, Mark Neita, St Elizabeth CA
president, Darren Powell and assis-
tant secretary Clinton Clarke absent.
Dann, who will serve in the post
until the association s next voting
annual general meeting, set for late
next year, also said that he was not
surprised at the result, given the
support he had going into the vote.
"I was not surprised by the result,
but more so the margin of victory,
as going into the vote I had the
assurances of several directors," he
said.
"But I was up against a good can-
didate, and I understand that there
were some last minute swings, as
well as a few absentees."
Walsh s other positions at the JCA
are to be taken by outgoing West
Indies selector, Robert Haynes, and
former Jamaica cricketer, Wayne
Lewis.
GEORGETOWN---Cricket Guy Inc,
the company formed to oversee the
day-to-day affairs of the Guyana
franchise under the new system
soon to be introduced in West
Indies cricket has not yet decided
if the local franchise will be keeping
it all local for the new season.
Under this system each of the ter-
ritorial boards will be allowed to
retain their top 10 players while
another 15 players from each country
will be put into a draft, which means
that there will be 90 players available
for teams to choose five to add to
their squad.
However, in an invited comment
on Saturday, chairman of the senior
selection panel of the Guyana Cricket
Board (GCB), Rayon Griffith, dis-
closed that the players pool will
decide the make-up of the local fran-
chise.
"Actually we have already iden-
tified the 10 players, but we will
decide on the other five at the draft.
I can t say at the moment if we will
go all local or not, it will depend on
the pool of players available," Griffith,
who will represent Cricket Guy Inc.
at the draft, said. Griffith, however,
was reluctant to release the names
of the 10 players.
The players draft will take place
in Barbados sometime this week.
The WICB from October 1 will
roll out a full professional first-class
franchise system in which a cadre
of 90 players will be engaged in a
professional cricket structure on a
day-to-day basis, year round.
The Board has committed to part-
ner with the six territorial boards to
fund six first-class franchises in the
region, which will compete in the
annual regional first-class and
Super50 tournaments.
Each franchise will retain 15 play-
ers, who will work as a unit on a
day-to-day basis in each territory
under a head coach and support
staff. The six franchises will be based
in Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, Lee-
ward Islands, Trinidad and Tobago
and Windward Islands.
Each of the six franchises will be
given US$45,000 per month to fund
their operations.
Further player will be categories
into three levels, A, B and C with
the first carrying a price tag of USD
$2,500, the second USD $1,700 and
third USD $1,250, based on the cat-
egory the player may fall within.
Guyana undecided on franchise make-up
Dann pips Hinds as second vice-president
St Anthony's Shaquille
Sandy, centre, is blocked
by Naparima's Khris
Stroud, left, and Amritt
Gildharry, as he tries to
barge his way forward
during their BGTT/ First
Citizens Secondary
Schools football clash on
Saturday. Naparima won
the match 5-1.
PHOTO ANTHONY HARRIS
HOT STEPPIN'